LONDON: Scientists have long been fascinated by the halo surrounding comets and the long tail of gas and dust particles and have been looking to find the scientific reasons behind them. Rosetta Mission has helped answer the questions and it all comes down to the water-ice cycle on these space rocks.
Orbiting and analyzing the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko for over a year now, Rosetta mission is the first to directly study a comet from up close. The mission has provided great insights into the structure of 67P specifically and other comets in general while also revealing details about the physical and chemical makeup of these celestial objects.
Researchers have long known that long tail and the halo around comets comprise of mixture of dust and ices, which are periodically shed by the comets when they are the nearest to the Sun in their highly eccentric orbits.
However, they haven’t been able to ascertain what was the source of continuous supply of this water-ice until now.
Researchers found through their analysis of Rosetta observations that the heat from the Sun causes the comet’s nucleus to heat up and this causes the ice and other frozen volatiles to sublimate and directly turn into a gas. As this gas flows away, it carries dust particles causing the bright halo and tails that are characteristic of comets.
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